Vincent Holt
Active Member
If I had a multi-meter what type of reading should I be looking for?
Msd blaster coil hot to the touch. No Sparks
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Vincent Holt
Active Member
If it was a poor ground connection... wouldn't the ground wire be hot as well?
The ground wire is room temp on my connection
Vincent Holt
Active Member
I Reused the factory coated coil wire as + lead after combining the brown/ Blue wires
Vincent Holt
Active Member
Ok.. I will try that tomorrow afternoon for sure. I'm trying not to burn dinner right now.
If the engine does start.... that mean the coil just went bad and everything is fine?
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IMO......just replace the coil as it's the easiest to change (by substantiation)....rather than fussing with all these tests suggested......you'll know conclusively wjich component is defective......
BOB RENTON .
BOB RENTON .
Vincent Holt
Active Member
Bob, I can agree with that 100% BUT
1. Mine was brand new right out of the box!
2. They are $80-90 without shipping.
3. I was hoping to get an answer on trouble shooting the problem for future issues and also for someone else who has this problem can search and find this thread.
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To test, use any coil.....Mopar ORIGIONAL factory coil is fine for a test The spark voltage will be slightly lower.....the distributor module just switches the coil ON/OFF (when the spark occurs) and will test the supposition....if it starts you'll know how to proceed........the Mopar coil needs a ballast resistor but for a short term test it will be ok........IMO....
BOB RENTON
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Bee1971
Well-Known Member
Yes
But that RTR Distributor requires 100%
12-14 Volts to fire off that module
Hence the quick test or tests
And every mechanic should own a Volt Meter
Correct Bob or is that to much of a fuss
But that RTR Distributor requires 100%
12-14 Volts to fire off that module
Hence the quick test or tests
And every mechanic should own a Volt Meter
Correct Bob or is that to much of a fuss
Bee1971
Well-Known Member
Key in run position
12 Volts at positive side of coil
When car is running 14.5 Volts
Vincent Holt
Active Member
Bee1971,
I will be getting a Multi Meter after dinner tonight.
When I perform your jumper wire test from the positive side of coil to positive side of battery, if the engine starts, will that prove my coil is toast?
Also, is there a test using the multi meter strictly on the coil with no wires hooked up to see if the coil is still good?
It doesn't figure. I just had the problem with no spark on my runner. Did not do anything but pull heads on the car to paint the shock towers over again and had a cracked head. Put it all back together and no fire. Even bought a new coil. Did not do anything to the wiring or distributor. I was stumped. Low voltage at the coil. Ballast resistor was getting hot. So took a few days and got it running. Tie raped my wires back at the bulkhead connector and to make it neat. No fire. This drove me crazy. So took a day off from it but still thinking what I did. It was running now it don't. As you all know I had a top rad hose blow off and fluid went everywhere. Had cleaned the bulkhead connector with contact cleaner. So revisited the connector and saw that it still looked dirty. Cleaned everything again and notice upon plugging the connector back on to the main plug the brown wire moves out. Pulled it back apart and the brown wire spade was loose in the connector. Had to bend the tab on it and push back into the block. Put the two plugs back together and used a small screwdriver with a flat blade and move the spades in further. Got fire. So just saying the simplest thing can get us. Sometimes we just have to walk away and go back at it later. Start afresh. Wish you luck with it and hope you get it figured out. 
Yes do an Ohms push on the coil. Should have 500 or more resistance showing. If it is fried no ohms will show.
I just tested my 20 some year old Blaster coil..
Shows .8 ohms across the posts, and 11.23k ohms from each post to the tower. The latter doesn't really tell you much.
Shows .8 ohms across the posts, and 11.23k ohms from each post to the tower. The latter doesn't really tell you much.
not necessarily. If the + and - wires are connected in reverse, then the motor will start, but the spark from the coil will be weaker and make it overheat.
wait, I thought you said the red wire is positive and the other black wire is ground? In reality is the red wire ground and the other 3 wires wrapped in black and connected to + terminal?
Vincent Holt
Active Member
Ihave
The negative side of the coil is only the orange wire from the MSD distributor.
The positive side of the coil has the red wire from the dist and one wire with a factory heat resistant sheathing that I repurposed. That heavy duty wire
Is spliced together at the firewall with the brown and blue wires.
Thr ground wire from the distributor goes to block.
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It doesn't figure. I just had the problem with no spark on my runner. Did not do anything but pull heads on the car to paint the shock towers over again and had a cracked head. Put it all back together and no fire. Even bought a new coil. Did not do anything to the wiring or distributor. I was stumped. Low voltage at the coil. Ballast resistor was getting hot. So took a few days and got it running. Tie raped my wires back at the bulkhead connector and to make it neat. No fire. This drove me crazy. So took a day off from it but still thinking what I did. It was running now it don't. As you all know I had a top rad hose blow off and fluid went everywhere. Had cleaned the bulkhead connector with contact cleaner. So revisited the connector and saw that it still looked dirty. Cleaned everything again and notice upon plugging the connector back on to the main plug the brown wire moves out. Pulled it back apart and the brown wire spade was loose in the connector. Had to bend the tab on it and push back into the block. Put the two plugs back together and used a small screwdriver with a flat blade and move the spades in further. Got fire. So just saying the simplest thing can get us. Sometimes we just have to walk away and go back at it later. Start afresh. Wish you luck with it and hope you get it figured out.
Man, you went through the same thing that I've randomly dealt with for YEARS.
It was never the same. Sometimes it would start fine for months, other times I'd touch nothing under the hood and it would get no spark. It could start and run, then I shut it down and try a few minutes later and no spark. It was never consistent and very hard to trace and correct. the last thing that I did was clean the bulkhead terminals and pack the plugs with dielectric grease. It has started reliably ever since but that doesn't mean much. I've gone a year or so between no spark episodes so maybe I fixed it, maybe it is just waiting to piss me off again.
Bee1971
Well-Known Member
The very reason I asked for volt meter readings and testing
I wanted to eliminate the easy stuff first
Hence the O P only owns a test light
Start with Volt Readings and ground
Remember it’s a RTR MSD
Then we can move to coils if that all pans out
Then the RTR Distributor itself
Cap Rotor Module
It did start so something overheated or lost full power and failed
Hopefully it wasn’t the RTR
I wanted to eliminate the easy stuff first
Hence the O P only owns a test light
Start with Volt Readings and ground
Remember it’s a RTR MSD
Then we can move to coils if that all pans out
Then the RTR Distributor itself
Cap Rotor Module
It did start so something overheated or lost full power and failed
Hopefully it wasn’t the RTR
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